Saw Till Part 3

Most of the sanding to 180 grit was done prior to glue-up. It can be difficult running a ROS over boards and getting into internal corners without leaving a groove from the sanding disk. Then after the glue had cured the saw till was removed from clamps and sanded back to 220 grit where required.

French cleat and spacer cleat added

A French cleat was made from some construction timber being glued and screwed to the rear uprights. Also a spacer cleat was glued and screwed to the lower part of the the rear. This is to compensate for the thickness of the French cleat and is made for the same thickness timber. If you are not sure what a French cleat is there is a description of how to do it from this URL. Also have a search of the WoodTalk forum as it is mentioned numerous times.

I had some Sansin wood finish which had an integral stain within left over from a previous job. I applied just one coat of the finish to give all components of the saw till an all over consistency. Iroko and cedar are similar on color but the French oak is slightly lighter. The stain gives it a uniform color without affecting the grain appearance. A couple of top coats of General Finishes Enduro Var gives the till extra protection. This is only shop furniture but it you are making it you may as well make it well.

Saw till lifted onto the wall cleat (don't look at the inside of the drawer boxes as the finishing in this view isn't good - nothing to see here move along!). The rear tongue and groove panels are not glued and are free to float about in their respective grooves with seasonal humidity variations. You can also see a shop built table saw blade holder adjacent to the till.

The till was hung on to the pre-existing French cleat on the shop wall and left to cure for a few days before kitting out began.

As you can see there is not much to making a saw till carcass, use of simple mortise and tenon joints, a few dovetails, a few dadoes and grooves. Everything can be done with handtools, machine tools or, more likely as in my case, a combination of both but add your own decorative touches to it if you want. For instance you could run an ogee profile all around the front edges or practice a reeding inlay. It is only shop furniture so might be a good platform to practice a technique.

We are not finished yet as there are a few holders to build. Oh and a few drawers.